50 Cent – 50 Fest hits The BEACH @Gov_Island

You will usually find him in da club, but come Saturday night you'll find him on da Beach at Governors Island.

The man of whom I speak is of course non other than rapper, actor and super star 50 Cent, or as I know him, Curtis Jackson from Jamaica, Queens. Not only will Fitty headline the first so-called “50 Fest,” he is also the first performer to sell out The Beach @Gov_Island in its first year.

After canceling a free show that was going to take place in 50's childhood neighborhood just a few months ago, 50 was on the prowl to do something bigger and better: 50 Fest. Along with friends and fellow rappers Kid Cudi, Wale, Mike Posner, and too many others to name, this day-into-night long extravaganza will be the icing on the cake for The Beach's debut concert season.

50 Cent has not officially mentioned who will or will not be there on Saturday, but all I can say is that I expect the unexpected. 50 is a natural born performer, and on that stage, in this great city, with that many rappers, there will SURELY be a party at The BEACH.

Kid Cudi will bring the party from Cleveland with his hit single “Day 'n' Nite.” Wale will bring the cool lyrics from D.C. with his single “Dig Dug (Shake It),” and Mike Posner will bring the pop dance grooves from Michigan with his chart topper “Cooler Than Me” to make 50 Fest a truly eclectic Hip-Hop festival.

There may be a lot of hype and fear about a 50 Cent show, but I assure you that The BEACH @ Governors Island producers will host a safe and awesome night of the best Rap on the scene. Unfortunately for you procrastinators you will have to wait until next year's 50 Fest, but as for me, I will be doing the crip walk in the New York Harbor.

Your Hip Hop Diva,

Lady Liberty Dollar

Buckethead to melt faces at autumn concert on The Beach at Governors Island

This summer, I've enjoyed rock, hip-hop, jam, blues, trance and reggae blasting from The BEACH @ Governors Island, but no metal. That will all change when Buckethead brings his freakishly amazing guitar playing to The BEACH. In addition to creating another terrific musical performance on New York City's greatest outdoor stage, this outing with Mr. Buckethead will be an event like none other.

Buckethead's guitar virtuosity is considered to be one of the best on this planet, and on this night I will be privileged to witness his magnificent stage presence. Not only is Buckethead’s guitar playing simply superlative, but the addition of his wardrobe makes you believe you are actually at the main act of a three-ring circus instead of a rock show.

Buckethead's mystique is notorious. Nobody has ever seen his face, only his white mask complemented with his white bucket atop his head. Miss Liberty thinks that Mr. Buckethead modeled his mask in my reflection, stone-faced and smile-less, and I take this as a huge complement, and an example of Buckethead's very excellent taste in influences.

Buckethead has released 3 albums this year alone, which brings his total solo albums to 27! That's just incredible. Not to mention the countless other bands and artists with whom he has collaborated: Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Iggy Pop, Les Claypool, and Guns N' Roses. On top of that he's written and performed for several movies that include Saw II, Beverly Hills Ninjas, Mortal Kombat: Annihiliation, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.

This man, or ghost as some people say, will put on one of the most outrageous shows The BEACH has yet to host. Only 50 Cent may be able to top that! And the 50 Fest comes to Governors Island, Saturday, October 3rd. First, the mighty Mr Buckethead, then Mr. 50 and friends. What a season for this happy, music loving diva.

Rock on!

Lady Liberty

Lupe Fiasco Closes the Hip-Hop Take Over of The BEACH

This Saturday, Lupe Fiasco will be kickin', pushin', and boatin' his way over to The BEACH @ Governors Island to mesmerize the crowd with mellow Hip-Hop, cool lyrics and his well produced beats. Over the last half decade, Lupe has quickly risen to the top ranks of Hip-Hop's best artists and performers.

With the production assistance of superstar Jay-Z, Lupe's first album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor became a household name due to the instant success of “Kick, Push.” This debut album brought a cool, laid-back style of Hip-Hop to mainstream culture, which turned out to be very attractive as a contrast to the heavy hitting club rap that continues to dominate the airwaves. 

As a New York gal, I've always preferred the cool aspect of Hip-Hop and cannot wait for Lupe Fiasco to hit the stage this Saturday night.

Lupe's second album Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, featuring “Superstar” with vocalist Matthew Santos, drove Lupe even higher in the ranks of Hip-Hop. Soon after its release, he formed the megagroup Child Rebel Soldier with Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D. (another of my favorite visitors to The BEACH) and Kanye West.

This Chicago born star will be releasing his third, and apparently final, album at the end of the year titled Lasers. It's a three-disc album that features singles “Shining Down” (released in June 2009), “Army Girl,” “Ladies and Gentlemen,” and “2 Ways.”

I hope to hear the old and new Lupe songs that I've grown to love as Lupe closes the so-called “Hip-Hop Take Over of The BEACH.” It was a great, quick run, and an amazing way to experience the many variations of Hip-Hop music.

On Saturday I will feel like a superstar!

Lady Liberty

Your Hip-Hop Diva

Mos Def's Ecstatic Tour hits The Beach at Governors Island, NYC

Tomorrow, September 12th, Mos Def continues the Hip-Hop take over of The BEACH @ Governors Island by bringing his native New York City sound home with the long awaited The Ecstatic Tour. Born and raised in Brooklyn during “Hip-Hop's Golden Age” definitely shaped the young Mos Def into the incredible rapper, actor and poet that he is today.

When I look back on those days in the late 80’s to early 90’s, I think about all of the talent that I am privileged to have watched over and that I call my own: A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, KRS-One, Public Enemy, Erik B. and Rakim, Run-D.M.C. and The Beastie Boys just to name a few fellow New Yorkers. Damn, what a time.

Mos Def keeps the vibe and music from The Golden Age alive and well. The Ecstatic (2009) is his fourth solo album following the release of his first notable album Black Star (1998), which he co-created with fellow Brooklyn MC Talib Kweli.

With over 10 years of rapping and touring, and 18 years of acting under his belt, Mos Def is a prominent star in Pop and Hip-Hop culture. You may remember Mos Def from such films and as Something The Lord Made (nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 16 Blocks, and Be Kind Rewind.

Mos Def's appearance at The BEACH will be one of this brand new venue's most memorable shows from the summer of 2009, and it will be the first to host a New York native. I miss the old school Hip-Hop scene, but Mos Def will definitely bring it back. So grab a 40, and let the beats move your feet.

Much love to Brooklyn!

Lady Liberty

New York City's Lost Treasure Hosts The City's 400th Anniversary

I've been writing about music and festivals all summer long, but now I would like to pay homage to the man who made all of this summer's shows possible. Four-Hundred years ago, the great English explorer, Mr. Henry Hudson discovered the New York Harbor and subsequently the greatest city in the world.

According to the September 3rd New York Post, Hudson, under contract to the Dutch East India Company, sailed across the Atlantic in search of a northern sea passage to the East Indies. Just like everyone else back in those days, he reached this great land instead of his intended destination. Just goes to show you, sometimes it pays to be wrong.

Or sail “the river not taken” to paraphrase the great American poet, Robert Frost.

So this inadvertant turn by Hudson's boat, the Halve Maen, led to the first settlement in the area – Governors Island, my brother island in the New York Harbor and home to The BEACH @ Governors Island, called the best place to see out-of-doors rock 'n' roll in NYC, by Music Critic, Dan Aquilante. See? You knew I'd bring up music, but I digress so let's get back to this important little history lesson.

As a Dutch settlement, Governors Island paved the way for the Dutch Republic to spread its culture into the New World, leading to the eventual settlement on Manhattan Island known as New Amsterdam.

Governors Island was originally labeled Noten Eylant (Nutten Island) by the first Dutch settlers because of its abundance of trees that littered the island with their nuts. Yet somehow the nuts from the trees were not the only nuts to call Nutten Island home.

According to “Our Local Correspondents: Useless Beauty, What is to be done with Governors Island” in the August 31, 2009 issue of The New Yorker, Nick Paumgarten writes, “In 1637 Wouter Van Twiller, The New Netherlands director, purchased it from the natives for two axe heads, some nails, and a string of beads. He pastured goats there, and planned a mansion for himself, but he was soon summoned back to Holland, on the ground of, among other things, incompetence. (He put up windmills directly in the lee of the fort, where the wind couldn't get to them.)”

Paumgarten also writes, “An early British governor, Lord Cornbury, Queen Anne's cousin, who reputedly like to dress in women's clothing, promised to build a fort, and, in order to pay for it, imposed a tax on wearers of wigs and pearl rings, and bachelors over the age of twenty-five. He used the proceeds, instead, to build a house on the island for himself, which became known as “The Smiling Garden of the Sovereigns of the Province.” Cornbury wound up in jail, and the island's resistance to both private dominion and public enjoyment persisted.”

The two examples above just go to show you that political leaders sometimes take advantage of their people, and every once in a while, a nice little rebellion like the American War of Independence is a very good thing.

Ever since its British control, Governors Island has been through the hands of the Continental Army, the State of New York, the U.S. Army, and most previously in 1966, the Coast Guard. In 2003, President Bush agreed to sell Governors Island to the State of New York for a mere 1 dollar, which is much less than the original purchase price of two axe heads, some nails, and a string of beads. A non-profit entity called the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC) has been developing and revitalizing this lost American treasure ever since.

This is a good thing for those of you who like a great walk in a park, or a free bike ride to see the very best views of yours truly. Come see me at sunset, and bring your camera because the Gov’, as I like to call it, features some of the best views of the New York City Skyline available. The beach shack serves a mean burger, and Liberty Event & HighLine Ballroom are serving up great music all summer long.

Speaking of beach parties, The BEACH hosts Armin van Buuren, one of the world's top trance DJs, who happens to be, you guessed it, Dutch, on Saturday, September 12th from 1-5pm. Armin van Buuren will entertain his native crowd, and any other American of any origin who is smart enough to take the free 7-minute ferry to the island, with his legendary trance/house beats.

Van Buuren has been voted #1 DJ twice by DJ Mag and attracts over 30 million listeners from more than 40 countries to his weekly radio show, “A State of Trance” - the most listened to radio show in the world. I believe on this particular day, there will be more than 40 countries represented in the crowd because that’s what New York City, and this country is all about.

In celebration of the early Dutch settlement and colonization of New York City, Governors Island hosts the New Island Festival from September 10-13 and 17-20 as a part of NY400 Week. The New Island Festival will feature over 150 Dutch artists, musicians, thespians, DJs, comedians, dancers, daredevils and acrobats.

Just like this French honey, the Dutch know how to have a good time. The New Island Festival on Governors Island will be a fun commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's arrival in the New York Harbor.

I also hear that a dutchman by the name of Theo Botschuijver will doing the first waterwalk in the United States and paying me a little visit


Diva can't wait.

Eten en worden gelukkig,

Lady Liberty

N.E.R.D. Opens the Hip-Hop Take Over of The BEACH @ Governors Island

Next Wednesday, September 9th kicks off a ten-day span featuring three of Hip-Hop's best performers. N.E.R.D., Mos Def, and Lupe Fiasco will rule The BEACH @ Governors Island until September 19th.

Beginning this Hip-Hop stretch are N.E.R.D. with special guest Asher Roth next Wednesday evening at 6pm. N.E.R.D. has dominated the live Hip-Hop/Rock scene since their debut album In Search Of... exploded on the airwaves in late 2001. Featuring the singles “Lapdance” and “Rock Star,” In Search Of... transformed the production duo The Neptunes into Rock Stars as N.E.R.D.

N.E.R.D. consists of Pharrell Williams (lead vocals, piano/keyboards, rhythm guitar and percussion), Chad Hugo (lead guitar, piano/keyboards, saxophone and bass guitar) and Shae Haley (drums, percussion and backing vocals). But N.E.R.D. is grounded by the production ingeniousness that is The Neptunes.

The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo) is a production duo responsible for many Hip-Hop and Pop hits of the late 90s and 2000s. Some of their famed work includes Justin Timberlake's Justified album, “Beautiful” and “Drop it Like It's Hot” by Snoop Dogg, and “Money Maker” by Ludacris. But producing was not enough for Williams and Hugo; they wanted to perform their music live instead of letting everyone else get all the credit.

N.E.R.D. will surely put on quite an energetic show on September 9th. These guys know and love music. They have been playing/producing since very early ages and have a superb knack for creating party music.

Aside from music, Pharrell Williams is a very passionate artist and has created an online social network where all kinds of artists may meet, share work and collaborate. www.ARTST.com showcases people's passion for art, music, film, dance, clothing, architecture, photography and much more.

As an ambassador to the greatest melting pot on Earth, I applaud Mr. Williams in his effort to create an artistic melting pot via the internet. I just hope to see this collaboration hit the streets of New York City so that I may once again witness the makings of the world's best art.

Peace ya'll,

Lady Liberty